Child or infant car seats are especially designed to carry an infant or toddler in a vehicle. Child car seats serve two primary purposes. First, the child car seat retrains and prevents injury to the child in the event of an accident. Secondly, the child car seat holds the child in a comfortable manner so that the child does not move about the car while it is being driven.
Car seats are secured to a rear automobile seat by either a lap or lap/shoulder seat belt. Typically, infants that weigh up to 22 pounds are placed in a rear-facing position. Toddlers that weigh from between about 20 to 40 pounds are placed in a forward-facing position. A rear-facing position is employed for infants so as to better support their head and neck during transport and in a crash.
It is known to provide a single rear facing recline adjustment in child car seats to enhance the safety and comfort of the child. Unfortunately, these known seats are unable to accommodate varying slopes of the supporting automobile seat on which it is placed. As such, even if the child's car seat is adjustable, it may not provide the necessary adjustment to allow for support of the child's head and neck. Proper recline is important for very young infants who lack the muscular strength to hold their head up or to address the potential of positional apnea.
Thus, the need exists for a child car seat which accommodates the incline of the supporting automobile seat and which also allows for recline adjustment of the car seat with respect to its base.